Greater Pinellas Point

This information and much more is available at the city of St. Petersburg Official Website: http://www.stpete.org

Amenities/character

Greater Pinellas Point is a culturally-diverse, casual community with the ambiance of a small town. There are ten churches, representing several different denominations. Two grade schools, a middle school, and a high school are all found within the boundaries of the neighborhood. Eckerd College, University of South Florida Bayboro, and St. Petersburg Junior College campuses are but a few minutes drive away.

If you work in downtown St. Petersburg, you can be home in ten minutes! You can commute on either Interstate 275, 4th Street or 9th (Dr. M.L. King) Street.

Do you like to exercise? One of two beautiful recreation centers includes a pool, tennis courts, and circuit- training path. The Pink Streets are favorite places for roller-bladers and bicyclists. Bay Vista Adult Center offers a variety of classes ranging from computer literacy to stained glass "and everything in between."

One of Greater Pinellas Point's two shopping centers has a department store. Speciality shops, a hardware store, optical shop, pharmacies, grocery stores, restaurants, automotive repair, and medical services are convenient, and there is only the occasional need to shop outside the area. You can even register and license your bicycle at the Skyway Community Police Resource Center.

If you are a boater, there is a nearby wet and dry-dock marina and a fine, neighborhood boat ramp. Waterfront parks, some with covered picnic pavilions, invite relaxation. If you like to go to the beach, you are just minutes away from the Gulf Beaches and Ft. DeSoto Park.

Architecture

Greater Pinellas Point offers one of the largest areas of undeveloped Tampa Bay waterfront areas in St. Petersburg. Most of the waterfront area is natural open-space frequented by herons, ibis, osprey, pelicans, seagulls, skimmers, sandpipers, hawks and owls. Several gated estates and homes overlook stunning waterfront views.

The oldest and most well-known part of the neighborhood is at the southernmost tip of Pinellas Point. The Pink Streets, so-named for their unique pink-tinted winding paths, are canopied by ancient Live Oak trees with giant spreading branches that offer shade to lush tropical gardens. Custom-built homes in various architectural styles punctuate the great expanses of flowers and trees.

Immediately north of Pinellas Point Drive are several distinctive neighborhoods of well-constructed homes built in the 1950s and 1960s. Three and four-bedroom executive homes on oversized lots and two-bedroom ranch homes well-suited for retirees and young families are throughout the area. Each home is unique by its landscaping and exterior appointments.

Several small lakes in the neighborhood are bordered by homes and apartments designed to take advantage of the view of the water and warm breezes. One lake includes a gaggle of white swans. Birdcage homes, identifiable by rooms opening onto two-story screened balconies overlook another lake. All the lakes are home to ducks and other water birds and, at night, you can fall asleep to the sound of frogs and tree toads!

History

Until the 1500s, the area was heavily populated by the now extinct Tobago Indians of Tampa Bay; the most visible remains are the well-preserved Pinellas Point Temple Mound near Pinellas Point Drive and 20th Street South.

Little activity occurred in the area until 1926, when a ferry began operating between Pinellas and Manatee Counties at what is now Bay Vista Park. The need for the ferry ceased with the mid-1950s opening of the Sunshine Skyway.

A "health resort" of sorts was located on the water near 14th Street. In the late 1920s, George E. Cook began developing The Pink Streets. Several streets were named for St. Petersburg's colorful historical icons including St. Petersburg's founder, General John Constantine Williams. Unfortunately, Cook went bankrupt during the Great Depression when those who purchased homes in his development were unable to make payments.

The largest portion of Greater Pinellas Point was developed between the 1950s to 1970s. Many homes in the area are in a busy flux of being remodeled, torn down, and rebuilt, showing the continued interest in the beautiful neighborhood of greater Pinellas Point.

Neighborhood grant projects

Greater Pinellas Point Neighborhood has been awarded three Neighborhood Partnership grants that have been used for: landscaping, a neighborhood entry sign, and a membership drive mailing to 3,200 residents of the neighborhood.

The Greater Pinellas Point Neighborhood Plan is scheduled for final neighborhood acceptance on Tuesday, May 17, 2005, at 7:30 p.m., Bay Vista Recreation Center (7000 4th Street South).

We encourage you to attend. A PDF file for the draft copies of the Greater Pinellas point Neighborhood Plan is available at http://www.stpete.org/pinellaspoint.htm for review.  

For information regarding the Plan, please contact Terese Hilliard, neighborhood planner, at 551-3249.

Boundaries

54th Avenue South to Tampa Bay from US 19 (34th Street) east to 4th Street and Tampa Bay (south of 64th Avenue South).

Greater Pinellas Point Civic Association

Visit the neighborhood's website to find out what's going on with the residents of Greater Pinellas Point - Click Here